by Our Foreign Desk

ISLAMIC STATE (Isis) claimed responsibility yesterday for Sunday’s armed assault on an Islamophobic cartoon contest in Texas.

The tenuous claim came as it emerged that one of the perpetrators had previously been arrested under suspicion of terrorist offences.

FBI agents had arrested Elton Simpson, who was shot dead along with Nadir Soofi by police on Sunday, in 2010 following a four-year investigation into his alleged terrorist activities.

He first came to the attention of the FBI in 2006 due to his connections to a US navy sailor who was convicted of terrorist offences.

Authorities had more than 1,500 hours of recorded conversations with Mr Simpson, including discussions about fighting non-Muslims and his plans to travel to Somalia to join his “brothers.”

In the end, he was only charged with lying to a federal agent and sentenced to three years’ probation and a $600 (£350) fine.

Mr Simpson and Mr Soofi attacked a deliberately provocative contest for the best cartoon of the Muslim prophet Mohammed in the Dallas suburb of Garland, armed with assault rifles and wearing body armour.

Police were expecting trouble and deployed both regular officers and a Swat team to reinforce the venue’s unarmed security guards.

The two attackers wounded a security guard in the leg before a single uniformed officer returned fire and hit both of them.

The Swat team then arrived and fired at the incapacitated suspects. It was unclear yesterday whose shots had killed the pair.